EMOTIONAL
OWNERSHIP IN CLUBS
Provided by Global Golf Advisors
Warren was delighted when
his fellow club members
selected him to serve on the
board. He couldn’t wait to
rollup his sleeves and jump
straight into the big issues
plaguing the club: stagnant
membership growth, financial
uncertainty and distrust of
the board itself. Given his
previous business success
and background, Warren
was certain that he could
be a difference-maker who
would put the club back
in good standing with its
members. Instead, Warren
encountered uncooperative,
unprofessional and
disorganised fellow board
members dedicated to the
status quo. . . “Tradition” they
called it.
WHAT COULD MAKE
governing a club so much
more difficult than leading
a major corporation?
“Emotional ownership
makes governing clubs
so challenging,” explains
Fred Laughlin, a 40-year
nonprofit governance expert
at PriceWaterhouseCoopers
and now an associate at
Global Golf Advisors (GGA).
“The intensity of emotional
ownership escalates
significantly as people think
of their churches, clubs and
homeowner associations.”
Faith, social network and
home ownership are
overpowering emotional
factors that can rob the
normal good sense of good
people, Laughlin teaches.
Most club leaders and
managers fully understand
the basics of effective club
governance. Club member
focus groups throughout the
world generate the same
assortment of member
concerns with governance:
transparency, communication,
strategic focus and financial
focus. Yet, many club boards
struggle with each category.
Board members can become
misdirected because of
the following contributors
to emotional ownership
dysfunction: their own
financial investment, personal
identification with the club’s
mission, interaction with
fellow board members,
proximity to the club and the
HOW SHOULD CLUB LEADERS IMPROVE GOVERNANCE AT THEIR CLUBS?
• Establish qualitative measures that serve as criteria for board evaluation. Club members
want personal accountability, openness, dependability, trustworthiness and accountability
from their board members. The board must establish the performance criteria against
which it will be evaluated.
• Execute regular quantitative analysis of board effectiveness. Require the board to “post a
score” for all to see. Board members should self-evaluate after each board meeting against
the governance criteria to which all members of the board have committed. In addition to
self-evaluation, club boards should request and receive annual performance evaluations
from fellow members.
• Communicate regularly, openly and redundantly. Board activities should be communicated
in multiple media formats - email, posted notices and hardcopy reports - to all club members.
No member should be allowed the option of complaining that they are ill informed.
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I GOLF MANAGEMENT AUSTRALIA
I
AUTUMN EDITION 2018